Portable basket colony for growing and transport and method of use

ABSTRACT

A colony basket and method of using the same for handling poultry from DOC through the growing process and on to a production facility comprising a harvesting system, a loading system, a transport system, an unloading and storing system, hanging system and cleaning system. The system and method performs the steps of harvesting and colonizing live poultry into a singly stackable and transportable colony basket, stacking and loading the trays on a transport, unloading and temporarily storing the poultry for subsequent processing.

CROSS REFERENCE

This application is a divisional of and claims the benefit of co-pendingU.S. application Ser. No. 14/755,040, entitled PORTABLE BASKET COLONYFOR GROWING AND TRANSPORT AND METHOD OF USE, and filed Jun. 30, 2015,which is a divisional of and claims the benefit of and priority to U.S.application Ser. No. 13/777,767, entitled PORTABLE BASKET COLONY FORGROWING AND TRANSPORT AND METHOD OF USE, and filed Feb. 26, 2013, nowU.S. Pat. No. 9,119,382, which is incorporated herein by reference inits entirety.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION Field

The field relates generally to poultry processing and more particularlyto handling, growing and transporting live poultry.

Background Art

Loading and unloading birds and transportation of live birds from thehatchery stage through the kill stage at a production facility is achallenging task. The birds have to be gathered, contained andtransferred to a transport means and subsequently unloaded with minimaldamage or harm to the animal, which is challenging because birdsinstinctively resist such movement. For example, transport of livepoultry from the hatchery to colony systems in growing houses and fromgrowing houses to processing facilities is required. One method oftransport of live poultry is containing the birds in cages and stackingthe cages on a truck with a flatbed trailer for transport. Loading andunloading trailers with live animals, particularly from a location wherethe animals are grown or raised to a processing facility, can in thecase of chickens, increase the stress level of the animal. Withheightened stress, animals are more likely to have increased bodytemperature, experience bruising, dislocated wing/leg joints andpotential tissue damage along with an increased pH level, which mayaffect the quality of the muscle. Once the birds are captured in cages,the cages are loaded on the trailer.

Existing systems involve crews of catchers to unload the birds from thegrowing colonies and load them for transport means. Loading of the cageson the trailer consumes the full time of one operator to move cages fromthe house or growing area to the trailer and it requires skill to stackcages on the trailer so that they can be properly secured for transport.The cages often become damaged in this operation over time and need tobe repaired and eventually replaced. Damage to the cages often involvesdamaged doors through which the birds are inserted. Poorly operatingdoors leads to increased time to load cages and can potentially resultin harm to the birds.

There are significant labor issues because the process of transportingand transferring birds is very labor intensive and requires some levelof skill and training. There are health issues for both the birds andthe handlers. The labor intensive handling of the birds promotes thetransmission of infections to the handler and risks harm to the birds.This results in numerous health and safety concerns. The cages or othertransport containers also have to be cleaned prior reuse, which can alsobe a labor intensive and costly effort.

In the catching process, the poultry are placed into cages. Some cagedesigns consist of “drawers” and can vary from 10 to 15 drawersaveraging a 20-25 bird capacity per drawer. Birds can be placed into thecages either manually or by semi-automatic means. A forklift then canload a flatbed truck with 18-22 cages that are stacked in pairs. Oncethe cages are in place, each stack has to be secured by chains to theframe of the trailer.

Semi-automated methods of harvesting the birds in the houses haveencountered mechanical and functional problems. In one sense thissemi-automated method eliminates the need for operators to physicallypick up the birds. However, operators are still needed to operate theequipment and to move the birds forward and away from the sides of thehouse. Therefore, some handling is still necessary.

Plastic poultry trays or drawers are sometimes used to transport andhouse birds temporarily, however, these systems are temporal and onlyused during certain stages and are not integral with growing systems ortransport systems. Use of such trays or drawers still requiresignificant handling of birds, though they may be somewhat more durablethan metal cages.

As noted above, problems occur with, loading, unloading, harvesting,placing birds into cages (plastic drawers or trays), loading the cageson a transport, and transporting to the processing facilities. Also,current processes are labor intensive and costly. The problems occur asthe DOC (Day Old Chicks) are transitioned from the hatcheries to thegrowing centers and then to the production facilities. A new system andmethod for harvesting, loading, growing, transporting, and unloading isneeded that addresses the above problems by reducing physical handlingof the birds from the hatchery stage through the kill and productionstage.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF INVENTION

The technology involves a system and method for handling poultrycomprising a colony basket apparatus utilized throughout the process oftransitioning the DOC from the hatchery, to the growing facility,through the growing process, and on to the production facility. Thecolony basket apparatus is utilized for harvesting, loading andunloading, growing, transport, storing and holding through the shacklingprocess prior to the kill process. The method utilizes the colony basketapparatus to perform the steps of retrieving and loading a grouping ofthe DOC into the colony basket at the hatchery, transporting the samegrouping of birds in the same colony basket to the growing facility,loading the colony basket containing the original grouping of birds intothe colony system of the growing facility, growing the DOC to Broilers(chickens bread and raised specifically for meat production) in theoriginal colony basket in which they were installed, removing andharvesting live poultry from the colony system while maintaining thesame grouping of birds in the same colony basket in which they wereoriginally placed, stacking and loading the colony basket of Broilers ona transport, transporting to a poultry production processing facility,unloading the colony basket and temporarily storing the poultry in thesame colony basket for subsequent killing. The invention moreparticularly relates to a new portable colony basket for holding andmaking possible all necessary functions for the poultry animals from theDOC stage, through growing, through transport and up to production whilemaintaining a grouping of birds or subset thereof in the same colonybasket throughout the process all of the way through the shacklingprocess.

The concept of harvesting poultry utilizing one type of colony basketuniformly throughout the entire process from capturing the DOC at thehatchery to growing houses equipped with colony systems and on toproduction will make the process more efficient and will result in lessworker and animal stress by resolving many of the problems related tothe current methods of manually catching birds and placing in cages orother containers or using semi-automated systems to harvest andtransition poultry. With the present invention, stackable tray colonybaskets can be utilized that can be placed into and retrieved fromcolony systems in growing houses using automated systems and can betransferred and retrieved from transports when transitioning betweenlocations within the overall process and the colony baskets can befurther integrated with feeding and watering systems. The trays can bemade from molded plastic or other material including metal aluminummetal and can have an open grid flexible flooring elevated above a lowermanure trap flooring to keep the birds out of their manure and the sidescan be vented. The bottoms can have an open grid pattern bottom to allowthe birds to grasp with their paws to stabilize and reduce wingflapping, but the floor can also be flexible to reduce injury to thebird. The grid pattern also allows debris and litter to fall out toreduce cleaning and increased airflow to ventilate the birds. The topand bottom perimeter edges of the cages can be complimentary in shapefor ease of stacking and stability reducing lateral movement of thestacked trays with respect to each other. The sides of the trays canalso have vented openings. Once an upper tray is stacked on top of alower tray, birds placed in the lower tray are contained. The upper mosttray in a stack of trays can be capped by an additional empty tray orother cover or ceiling in the colony system or in the transport or otherautomated transitioning means.

An empty stack of colony baskets can be transported to a hatchery andloaded with DOC. The stack of colony baskets containing DOC can beloaded on a transport rack, which receives the colony baskets andtransported to a growing house from the hatchery. The colony baskets canbe unloaded from the transport rack to be transferred into a poultryhouse colony system manually or the transfer can by automated by apowered mover or conveyor and/or loading system. This method providesthat no container stacks have to be manually or mechanically un-stackedfor loading poultry because the DOC are already in the colony baskets.Previous systems required that trays be removed from a stack and thenthe poultry would be loaded into the trays and the trays are re-stacked,a powered mover can transport the trays to the outside to be loaded ontothe trailer. The process of loading and unloading birds in the growinghouse has been eliminated.

The construction of the trailer can be a flatbed trailer with verticalframework to make up the structural integrity as well as to hold thestacks of individual colony baskets. There can be a plurality ofvertical and horizontal rails to insure the structure and flexibility ofthe size and number of colony baskets the transport is capable ofhandling.

With the design of the present invention, there can be a frame workconstructed on the transport trailer holding a lightweight material thatcan be pulled alongside the trailer to cover the sides. This shroud cancreate an envelope in which the environment can be better controlled andprovide a more suitable environment for the animals.

Once the trailer arrives at the plant, the colony baskets can beunloaded and automatically moved into a warehouse or holding facility.This process can be performed as trucks arrive in order to build anentire storage of birds for a production shift. The trucks can beautomatically unloaded in a very short period of time, thus eliminatingthe need for a forklift. The system can work in a “last-in first-out”method. The process can be improved through the efficiency of bringingthe birds in the same colony basket that originated at the hatchery andthe same colony basket continuing through the growing process and on tothe production plant kill area and not consuming time loading andunloading birds into and out of cages or other containers.

The automated unloading can be done automatically to pull the trays offthe trailer (or flatbed of transport) from the side of the truck in thestacked formation into a transport rack or onto either a conveyor orpull chain system. The transport rack or the conveyor can take the traysto the staging area where they can be un-stacked manually or by usingdestacker equipment.

With the proposed method, the colony baskets provide a perfecttransport, growing container and housing means all in one unit to movethe birds through the entire process. This system can eliminate theunnecessary handling of the birds and possibly make the process moreefficient.

There are a number of advantages to the design of the present inventionfor harvesting poultry. Safety is increased for the handler and thebirds and health risks are reduced. The efficiencies of handling andtransporting birds is improved and the process is less labor intensiveand causes less stress on animals.

These and other advantageous features of the present invention will bein part apparent and in part pointed out herein below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a better understanding of the present invention, reference may bemade to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a colony basket integrated with a watering and feeding system;

FIGS. 2A-2C are colony basket stacks;

FIGS. 3A-3B is a colony basket rack;

FIG. 4A is a colony basket rack;

FIG. 4B is a latitudinal side plan view of a colony basket;

FIG. 4C is a longitudinal side plan view of a colony basket;

FIG. 4D is a colony basket rack support;

FIG. 4E is a colony basket rack conveyor assembly;

FIG. 5A is a colony basket rack support;

FIG. 5B is a colony basket rack conveyor assembly;

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of the colony basket methodology;

FIGS. 7 is an illustration of the hatchery conveyor, DOC counter and eggshell separator;

FIG. 8 is an illustration of a colony system;

FIG. 9 is an illustration of loading colony baskets from a rack to acolony system;

FIG. 10 is an illustration of the colony system operation;

FIG. 11 is an illustration of a transport loading system;

FIG. 12A-12C is an illustration of loading a transport;

FIG. 13-19 is an illustration of transferring colony basket stacks froma colony system to a trailer;

FIGS. 20-22 is an illustration of retrieving colony basket stacks from atrailer;

FIGS. 23-24 are illustrations of transferring colony baskets to a killline; and

FIG. 25-26 is an illustration of colony baskets traveling through thekill line and the cleaning station.

While the invention is susceptible to various modifications andalternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way ofexample in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. Itshould be understood, however, that the drawings and detaileddescription presented herein are not intended to limit the invention tothe particular embodiment disclosed, but on the contrary, the intentionis to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives fallingwithin the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by theappended claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION

According to the embodiment(s) of the present invention, various viewsare illustrated in FIG. 1-26 and like reference numerals are being usedconsistently throughout to refer to like and corresponding parts of theinvention for all of the various views and figures of the drawing. Also,please note that the first digit(s) of the reference number for a givenitem or part of the invention should correspond to the Fig. number inwhich the item or part is first identified.

One embodiment of the technology is a single colony basket designadapted to be used throughout poultry processing from the hatchery,through growing and to production. The colony basket includes componentsdesigned for the growing process and components designed for transport.The colony basket is adapted for an automated loading system including astackable tray design, a transport system, and unloading and storingsystem.

The details of the invention and various embodiments can be betterunderstood by referring to the figures of the drawing.

Referring to FIG. 1, a colony basket integrated with a watering andfeeding system is shown. The colony basket growing assembly 100 is shownwith a colony basket 102 having vented vertically upright side walls 104and 106 extending between a top rim flange and a bottom rim flange. Thevertically upright side walls include vented areas 108. The top rimflange includes a plurality of stand-offs as represented by items 110and 111. The stand-offs can provide spacing between colony baskets whenthey are stacked one on top of the other and can resist lateral movementof the stacked baskets one with respect to the other. The bottom rimflange can include complimentary recessed receptacles to receive thestand-offs therein in order to interlock the stacked colony baskets andin order to prevent or resist lateral and longitudinal movement. The toprim flange and the adjacent side wall can have vertical slots 116 and118 for receiving the water channel having a downward pointing exitnozzle and water trough assembly 120 and 122. The colony basket 102 canalso be integrated with a feed channel 124 and feed trough 126. The feedassembly and the watering assembly can be more generally referred to assustenance assemblies that can be elevated above the basket for basketremoval and installation and ultimately lowered into the basket. Theparametrical top rim flange defines an upward facing opening throughwhich birds can be inserted into the basket. The downward facing openingis closed by a floor 112 providing support and a trap for debris. Thefloor 112 can have placed thereon elongated elevator strips 114 overwhich a flexible mesh flooring (Not Shown) can be supported andinstalled. The flexible mesh flooring, not shown, can have smallopenings through which debris can fall downward through the meshflooring and be trapped by the floor 112. The flexibility of the meshflooring prevents injury to birds standing thereon. The colony basketgrowing assembly 100 is shown in its configuration when it is integratedwithin a colony system whereby the birds are housed within the colonybasket and provided nourishment for the growing process. For anotherembodiment, the floor 112 can be a mesh floor and the strips 114 cansupport the mesh floor. A further modification to this embodiment caninclude an under panel or cover that removably attaches immediatelyunderneath the mesh floor 112.

Referring to FIG. 2, a colony basket stack is shown. In FIGS. 2A-2Cvarious views of a colony basket stack 200 is shown. The colony basketsare shown stacked one on top of the other. The colony basket stack 200can be transported in this configuration and as seen in the variousviews, the colony baskets are vertically spaced one with respect to theother by the stand-offs 111 and 110. The bottom facing rim 202 of thebasket above can be configured with a mating receptacle recess 204 forreceiving the stand-off of the basket immediately below.

Referring to FIG. 3, a colony basket rack is shown. A rack assembly 300is shown and configured for a colony system. The rack transfer andconveyor assembly 302 is shown which is utilized to support the colonybasket as well as transfer the colony basket into and out of the colonyracks of the colony system. The colony system configuration is shownwith a feed assembly 304 and a watering assembly 306. The slot 116 shownwhere the water assembly 306 can be lowered therein. The feed assembly304 and the water assembly 306 is shown in a lowered position but can beelevated above the colony basket using a wench system adapted to raiseand lower the assemblies so that the basket can be inserted and removedfrom the colony basket rack without being obstructed by the assemblies.Other drawer designs are not adapted such that watering and feedingassemblies can be raised above or lowered into the container.

Referring to FIGS. 4A through 4E, a colony basket rack assembly isshown, a side plan view of a colony basket is shown, a side plan view ofa colony basket is shown, a colony basket rack support is shown and acolony basket rack conveyor assembly is shown. FIGS. 4A-4E show thevarious components of the rack assembly 300 within the colony systemconfiguration. The colony baskets are longitudinally installed withinthe rack assembly 300. The longitudinal installation aligns the verticalslots of the colony baskets to be aligned with the water trough system.The components of the transfer system including the support transferrack 400 and the rack transfer conveyor assembly 302 is also shown. Astandoff 111 is shown protruding vertically upward from the basket. Thebottom facing rim can have a recess for receiving the standoffs.

Referring to FIGS. 5A-5B, a colony basket rack support is shown and acolony basket rack conveyor assembly is shown. FIGS. 5A and 5B showfurther detail of the support transfer rack 400 and the rack transferconveyor assembly 302. The rack transfer conveyor assembly 302 includesa conveyor belt 500 and a conveyor roll assembly 502. The rack transferconveyor assembly 302 also includes a hydraulic cylinder extension arm504 that can be utilized to engage the baskets with engagement members506 and extend to transfer a colony basket stack from one rack toanother and/or from one rack to a transport system. The basket cylinderarm and basket retention bar can be actuated to longitudinally extendand retract during retrieval and insertion of a basket. The basketretention bar can include basket engagement members that engage thebasket by applying lateral pressure against the side of the basketand/or engages a complimentary receptor configured to receive theengagement member. The retention bar and engagement member can berotated about pivot 508 in order to rotate upward to engage a basket orto rotate outward and downward away from the basket. The supporttransfer rack 400 can support a basket and the support transfer rack canbe integral with a rack allowing the transfer rack 400 to elevate orlower the basket with the rack when it is supporting a basket.

Referring to FIG. 6 a flow diagram of the colony basket methodology isshown. FIG. 6 shows a flow diagram of a circular process utilizing asystem of colony baskets throughout the entirety of the process. A givencolony basket will retain the same colony (grouping) of birds throughoutthe process. Initially a colony basket is filled with DOC at a hatcheryas reflected by step 600. Groupings of colony baskets each containingtheir own individual grouping of birds are then transferred to a growinghouse (colony farm) 602 where the baskets are loaded into a colonysystem as reflected by 604. The birds are retained in the same colonybasket in which they were originally installed throughout the growingprocess and the growing process proceeds as reflected by 606. The colonybaskets are integrated with the watering and feeding systems within thecolony system of the growing house. Once the growing process has beencompleted, the birds are retained in their original colony basket andthe baskets are removed from the colony system and transferred to thetrailer of a transport as reflected by step 608. The transport carriesthe grouping of baskets to a processing plant where the colony basketsare stacked and stored for future processing as reflected by steps 610and 612. Again, each of the grouping of birds are retained in theiroriginal colony basket throughout the process. The baskets are unloadedas reflected by step 614 and transferred to the kill line as reflectedby step 616 or 617 which is the controlled atmosphere stunning system(CAS) path and there can be separate paths that can be chosen. The birdscan be removed from the original baskets in which they were placed andinstalled on shackles for further processing. The baskets can then besent through a cleaning process as reflected by step 618. The cleanedbaskets can then be transported to a hatchery 620 and a new batch of DOCcan be installed into the baskets and the process can repeat itself.

Referring to FIG. 7, an illustration of the hatchery conveyor is shown.FIG. 7 is an illustration of a hatchery system where groupings of DOC700 can be placed on a conveyor system 702 and transferred into colonybaskets by a transfer system 704 and the baskets filled with DOC canthen be stacked and transferred to a growing house containing a colonysystem. The transfer system 704 installs the DOC in a basket andseparates the DOC from the shells that remain after the bird hatches.

Referring to FIG. 8, an illustration of a colony system is shown. FIG. 8is an illustration of a colony system where rows of rack assemblies 800and 802 are aligned side-by-side in which colony systems are installedas reflected by Items 800 and 802 respectively. A rack assembly 300 canbe utilized for transferring the colony baskets from the rack to thecolony system. The colony baskets can be longitudinally installed withinthe colony system for the growing process. The colony basket stacks 200can be installed on wheeled platforms for transporting the colonybaskets stacks as reflected in the illustration.

Referring to FIG. 9, an illustration of loading colony baskets from arack to a colony system is shown. FIG. 9 is a further illustration oftransferring a colony basket stack 900 on a wheeled platform 902 to acolony rack for insertion of the colony baskets into the colony systemas reflected by Items 800 and 802.

Referring to FIG. 10, an illustration of the colony system operation isshown. FIG. 10 is an illustration of the growing process in operationwhereby workers 1002 utilizing platforms 1004 can tend to the growingprocess by maintaining the watering and feeding systems. The water andfeed assemblies are shown in an elevated position above the basket. Whenthe assemblies are elevated, the baskets can be readily inserted andremoved.

Referring to FIG. 11, an illustration a transport loading system isshown. FIG. 11 is an illustration of transferring colony baskets 102from a colony system into a rack assembly for transfer into thetransport 1104 having a flatbed 1106. The colony baskets 102 can betransferred by a transfer conveyor 1102 into a rack assembly. The rackassembly can then be utilized to load the transport 1104 by placing thecolony basket stacks on the flatbed of the transport.

Referring to FIG. 12A-12C, an illustration of loading a transport isshown. FIGS. 12A-12C is a further illustration of transferring colonybaskets from the colony system onto a rack assembly for placement on aflatbed of a transport.

Referring to FIG. 13-19, an illustration of transferring colony basketstacks from a colony system to a trailer is shown. FIGS. 13-19 providean illustration of a step-by-step process for transferring colonybaskets from the colony system onto the flatbed of a transport. Asillustrated, the support transfer rack 400 are rotated to receive thefirst colony basket from level 4. The basket is loaded onto the basketsupport and a netting material 1302 can be installed or draped over thetop of the colony basket 102 to retain the birds therein. FIG. 14illustrates loading a second basket from level 4 and again applying anetting or other covering material over the top of the basket. FIG. 15illustrates loading a third basket from level 3 and again applying thenetting material and draping over the top of the basket. This process isrepeated for each of the levels of the colony system as two baskets areloaded from each level and then stacked with the previously loadedbaskets.

FIG. 16 reflects loading the eighth and final basket from level 1 ontothe rack transfer conveyor assembly for subsequent stacking of thecolony baskets. When a complete stack has been loaded, the basketsupports can be rotated outward such that the rack transfer conveyorassembly can begin transferring stacks onto the transport. FIG. 17illustrates the completed stack and ready for rotating the basketsupports outward to ready the loading of the basket stacks onto thetransport. FIG. 18 illustrates the rack transfer conveyor assemblyconveying the basket stacks onto the flatbed of the transport. FIG. 19illustrates the completion of the stack loading utilizing the hydrauliccylinder extension arm for placing and loading the stack onto theflatbed of the transport.

Referring to FIGS. 20-22, an illustration of retrieving colony basketstacks from a trailer is shown, which is essentially the reverse of theprocess for loading a trailer. FIG. 20 is an illustration ofsubsequently retrieving the basket stacks from the trailer using thehydraulic cylinder arm to engage and pull the stack onto the rackassembly. The hydraulic cylinder arm pulls the stack onto the rack andonto the conveyor for subsequently engaging the support transfer racksfor installing and longitudinally inserting the basket into the colonysystem. FIG. 21 illustrates the beginning of the process fortransferring the basket stacks into the colony system. The transfersupport racks can be rotated to engage the colony baskets to begin theprocess of transferring the baskets into the colony system. A reversalof the previous process can be performed by installing two colonybaskets per level, beginning with level 1 and moving upward to level 2,3 and 4. FIG. 22 is an illustration of this process.

Referring to FIGS. 23-24, illustrations of transferring colony basketsto a kill line are shown. FIG. 23 is an illustration of transferring thecolony baskets from the transport to the rack assembly 300 and thentransferring the colony baskets onto the colony basket entry conveyor2302 to convey the colony baskets to the rendering station 2304. Oncethe birds have been unloaded from each colony basket, the empty colonybaskets can then be transferred to the colony basket exit conveyor 2306.The colony baskets can then proceed through and along the colony basketwash conveyor 2308 which carries the colony baskets through the colonybasket washer 2312. The colony baskets once they are washed can then bereconfigured in a colony basket stack where the process can be startedagain.

FIG. 24 is an illustration of a colony basket entry station 2402 whichis another embodiment for transferring the colony basket stacks from thetransport to the rendering station.

Referring to FIGS. 25-26, an illustration of colony baskets travelingthrough the kill line and the cleaning station is shown. FIG. 25 is afurther illustration of the rendering or kill line whereby workersremove the birds from the colony baskets and hang the birds on thehanging conveyor shackles 2502.

The process can begin at the hatchery where a grouping of birds (forexample DOC) are gathered and placed into a colony basket. A pluralityof baskets can be stacked on over top of another for transport. Anetting material can be shrouded over each colony basket to assist incontaining the birds. The grouping of birds and their respective colonybasket in which they are placed can remain in the same colony basketthroughout the process until they are removed as broilers at the killstation. This reduces the handling of the birds to avoid injury andhelps to prevent the spread of bacteria or disease between birdgroupings. The grouping of DOC can be transported to a growing house inthe same colony basket in which they were originally placed at thehatchery, where the poultry are grown for future processing. At thegrowing location there can be a series of growing colony racks forhousing the colony baskets with the original grouping of birds placedtherein at the hatchery. At the growing facility, the colony baskets canbe integrated with water and feed channels and watering and feedtroughs. The colony baskets can have a specific configuration tointegrate with the watering and feeding systems as outlined herein inorder to assist poultry going through the growth process and assist theoperators at the growing facility for attending to the birds. When thepoultry have completed the growth process, now in the broiler stage,they can be transported to a location for processing as a final foodproduct. A transport can arrive at the growing location to receive thepoultry that have completed the growth process. The transport system canbe a truck and trailer combination. The trailer can be a standardflatbed trailer on which colony baskets containing the fully grownpoultry can be loaded. The colony baskets containing the originalgrouping of birds, or some subset thereof, can be transferred from thecolony racks of the colony system to the flatbed of the transport. Anetting material can be shrouded over each basket before it is stackedin order to assist in retaining the bird. The colony baskets can bestacked one atop another. The transport can be loaded with the fullygrown birds and transported along a travel route to an unloading stationat a processing facility. The transfer system for transferring thecolony baskets from the colony racks to the flatbed can be automated asdescribed herein.

The unloading station can include an automated unloading system forautomatically unloading a colony basket stack from the trailer forstorage in an adjacent storage area of the processing facility. Traystacks can be conveyed to a storage location having a climate controlledstorage facility for housing the poultry in the stacked configurationprior to the rendering process. The storage area can be operated on afirst in first out system such that a given colony basket stack does notdwell in the storage area for an extended period of time. The storagearea can also have a system for controlling and tracking the weight ofthe tray stacks which could ultimately provide weight informationregarding the fully grown poultry.

Within the storage facility there can be an automated unstacking systemfor unstacking the colony basket stacks for conveyance through theprocessing facility. There can be a stunning system utilized including agaseous environment for stunning the poultry or it can include anelectric shock stunning system or a combination of the two. If a gaseousenvironment stunning system is utilized, the gaseous environment can bea multi-stage stunning system where the first stage(s) can be a combinedinduction phase and the second stage(s) can be the combined stunningphase. This system can generally be referred to as a controlledatmosphere stunning system or CAS. Once the colony baskets containingthe original grouping of birds/poultry have transitioned through thestunning system, the poultry can be unloaded from the trays at anunloading station. The unloading station can comprise an automatedunloading system which is operable to tilt the colony basketssufficiently to remove the stunned poultry from the colony baskets. Thisis the first point in the process that the birds are removed since theiroriginal placement into the colony basket at the hatchery as DOC. Onceremoved from the colony baskets, the stunned poultry can be conveyed toa shackling station where the poultry can be hung from a shackleconveyor for being conveyed to a plant evisceration facility.

As described the colony baskets can be stackable. Further the colonybasket can have an interwoven wire mesh elevated floor above the colonybasket bottom floor where the mesh openings are sufficiently large fordebris to pass therethrough and also providing a means for the bird tograsp hold in order to stabilize itself and the mesh floor can beflexible in order to avoid injury to the birds. The frame of the colonybaskets include various portions including perimeter top and bottom rimflanges and upright vented side walls. The upward facing surface portionof the upper perimeter top rim flange can be designed to becomplimentary with respect to the downward facing portion of the bottomperimeter rim flange. This complimentary configuration can be designedsuch that the trays interlock when they are stacked thereby resistinglongitudinal and latitudinal movement of the trays with respect to eachother.

The stackable tray can be constructed having a top rim flange and abottom rim flange, which defines the longitudinal and latitudinaldimensions of the tray. The top and bottom rim flanges can have L-shapedcross sections. The inner perimeter of the top rim flange can define anupper opening or upward facing opening through which birds can be easilyinserted. The bottom rim flange defines the perimeter of the lower ordownward facing opening closed off by the solid floor. The solid floorcan have elevators for elevating the mesh floor proximately above thesolid floor. The mesh flooring is designed with vented openings wherethe openings are sufficiently large to allow debris to pass therethrough. The flexible mesh floor design provides for a surface that canbe grasped by the talons of a bird without injury. Upright side wallscan be attached around the perimeter of the tray and attached to supportmembers. The inner perimeters of the top rim flange and the bottom rimflange, which define the upper and lower openings respectively, can havesubstantially the same geometry.

The top rim flange can include stabilization standoffs which can extendvertically. The top rim flange can have on an upper surface a verticalstandoff. The flange and the complementing recessed receptacle on theunderside of the colony basket when engaged, one with respect to theother in a stackable fashion, they can resist longitudinal andlatitudinal shifting of trays, one with respect to the other. Also, thestabilization standoffs can be placed along the latitudinal andlongitudinal sides of the top rim flange. The spacing between thelongitudinal, the latitudinal, and the corner upright support ribsdefine the vented openings of the tray. The spacing between the supportmembers and the height of the support members can be optimized dependingon the type of bird being contained within the stackable trays.

For stacked colony baskets the uppermost colony basket can have a topcover or a netting installed of the uppermost colony basket. The topcover can have a mesh screen for covering the opening of the uppermosttray. The perimeter of the mesh screen can be defined by the top coverflange. The top cover flange can have recessed receptacles forinterfacing with the raised standoffs of the uppermost tray.

The colony basket stacks can be transitioned to the transport and loadedon the flatbed by way of a transfer rack or loading dock or other meansfor loading the colony basket stacks. Vertically protruding standoffscan be provided on the flatbed for and dimensioned to be received by therecessed receptacles of the lower most colony basket in a stack. Thetransport can have a shroud covering for better controlling theenvironmental exposure of the poultry. The shroud covering can besupported by transport side rails. One or both of the side panels of theshroud covering can be a retractable curtain for exposing the flatbedfrom either side. The shroud covering can also have a rear transportcover opening and or a side transport cover opening through which colonybaskets can be loaded.

The stacked colony baskets can be loaded through the transport coveropening by sliding them along tray tracks which extend along theflatbed. The trailer can be a standard trailer; however, the trailer canhave side railings for supporting shroud covering. The top surface ofthe flatbed can have raised standoffs that conform to the recessedreceptacles on the underside of the tray to restrict lateral sliding ormovement of the bottom most tray.

The various poultry handling examples shown above illustrate a novelsystem and method for handling poultry. A user of the present inventionmay choose any of the above chicken handling embodiments, or anequivalent thereof, depending upon the desired application. In thisregard, it is recognized that various forms of the subject chickenhandling could be utilized without departing from the spirit and scopeof the present invention.

As is evident from the foregoing description, certain aspects of thepresent invention are not limited by the particular details of theexamples illustrated herein, and it is therefore contemplated that othermodifications and applications, or equivalents thereof, will occur tothose skilled in the art. It is accordingly intended that the claimsshall cover all such modifications and applications that do not departfrom the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Other aspects, objects and advantages of the present invention can beobtained from a study of the drawings, the disclosure and the appendedclaims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A rack assembly for transferring colony basketsfrom a colony to a transport comprising: a transfer rack conveyorassembly positioned adjacent an exit end of a colony; a colony basketrack support configured to one or more of vertically elevate and lowerwithin the transfer rack conveyor assembly to a level of the colony toreceive a colony basket being conveyed out of the exit end of thecolony; said colony having a conveyor conveying the colony basket out ofthe exit end of the colony to be received on the colony basket racksupport within the transfer rack conveyor assembly; and an actuatableextension arm rotatable upward about a pivot to laterally engage thecolony basket and said actuatable retention arm configured to extend aretention bar extending therefrom to contact and move the colony basketfrom the transfer rack conveyor assembly to a transport.
 2. The rackassembly as recited in claim 1, comprising: a transfer conveyorpositioned between the exit end of the colony and the transfer rackconveyor assembly, where said transfer conveyor is configured to conveythe colony basket from the exit end of the colony.
 3. The rack assemblyas recited in claim 2, where the retention bar has engagement membersfor engaging side walls of the colony basket.
 4. The rack assembly asrecited in claim 3, where the actuatable extension arm and retention barare longitudinally extendable and retractable during retrieval andinsertion of a basket responsive to being actuated.
 5. The rack assemblyas recited in claim 4, comprising: a plurality of colony basket racksupport configured to one or more of vertically elevate and lower withinthe transfer rack conveyor assembly to a level of the colony to receivea colony basket being conveyed out of the exit end of the colony.
 6. Therack assembly as recited in claim 3, where the engagement members arereceived in receptors of the colony basket.
 7. A method for transferringcolony baskets from a colony to a transport comprising: positioning atransfer rack conveyor assembly adjacent an exit end of a colony; one ormore of vertically elevating and lowering a colony basket rack supportwithin the transfer rack conveyor assembly to a level of the colony toreceive a colony basket being conveyed out of the exit end of thecolony; conveying the colony basket out of the exit end of the colony tobe received on the colony basket rack support within the transfer rackconveyor assembly; and actuating an extension arm to rotate about apivot to laterally engaged the colony basket and to extend a retentionbar to contact and move the colony basket from the transfer rackconveyor assembly to a transport.
 8. The method of transferring colonybaskets as recited in claim 7, comprising: one or more of verticallyelevating and lowering the colony basket received on and while supportedby the colony basket rack support within a transfer rack conveyorassembly to a level where a top rim flange of the colony basket is atone or more of the level of the colony and another level of the colony;conveying another colony basket out of the exit end of the colony to bereceived on top of the colony basket thereby forming a basket stackbeing supported by the colony basket rack support within the transferrack conveyor assembly, and actuating the extension arm to rotate aboutthe pivot to laterally engaged the colony basket and to extend theextension bar to contact and move the basket stack from the transferrack conveyor assembly to the transport.
 9. The method of transferringcolony baskets as recited in claim 8, where the one or more ofvertically elevating and lowering a colony basket rack support withinthe transfer rack conveyor assembly to a level of the colony is, one ormore of vertically elevating and lowering a plurality of colony basketrack supports to a level of the colony to receive a plurality colonybaskets being conveyed out of the exit end of the colony.
 10. The methodof transferring colony baskets as recited in claim 9, where theretention bar has engagement members for engaging side walls of thecolony basket.
 11. The method of transferring colony baskets as recitedin claim 10, comprising: receiving the engagement members into colonybasket receptors.
 12. The method of transferring colony baskets asrecited in claim 10, comprising: actuating the extension arm to rotateupward about a pivot to laterally engage and actuating to rotatedownward about the pivot to laterally disengage the sidewall.